Trump Says He Won’t Sign GOP Pledge Because There’s ‘Three or Four People That I Wouldn’t Support’ If They Won the Nomination
Former President Donald Trump said he refuses to sign the Republican Party’s pledge to support whichever candidate wins the 2024 Republican nomination because there are “three or four people” he would not endorse for president.
During an interview with Newsmax host Eric Bolling, Trump said there was little incentive to debate other candidates when he was so far ahead in the polls, before adding:
I have a problem with the debate for another reason. I wouldn’t sign the pledge. Why would I sign a pledge? There are people on there that I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have certain people as, you know, somebody that I’d endorse. So they want you to sign a pledge, but I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president, so right there, there’s a problem, okay? Right there, there’s a problem.
After Bolling asked Trump if he would name the candidates he wouldn’t be able to endorse, Trump said, “I don’t wanna do that, there’s no reason to insult them, but there are some people there that a lot of people wouldn’t endorse.”
He continued, “They’re not gonna go anywhere, by the way. They’re not gonna get it. But I wouldn’t endorse them.”
“The RNC said that’s one of the requirements for— so you won’t sign it?” Bolling questioned.
“Well, they have three or four people that I wouldn’t, you know— who would put these people as president?” Trump said:
Somebody like Asa Hutchinson, who’s polling at zero, will ask me nasty questions. Somebody like Chris Christie, he’s polling at 1% and he’s gonna ask me nasty questions, and others too, and then you have some that are very good. I mean, Tim Scott has been very nice, and [Vivek] Ramaswamy has been very, very nice. I mean, these are, you know, very capable people, very good people, but why would you do that when you’re leading by so much? Ronald Reagan didn’t do it, Nixon didn’t do it, many people didn’t do it, but I’m gonna look at it very seriously.
While Trump refused to explicitly name the Republican candidates he would not support, he has feuded with the majority of his Republican primary rivals.
Trump has had particularly harsh words for his former running mate Mike Pence, as well as Hutchinson, Christie, and Ron DeSantis — who, as the second most popular candidate, has bore the brunt of Trump’s attacks.
DeSantis himself signed the Republican Party’s pledge on Wednesday, meaning that — at least in theory — he will endorse Trump if the former president wins the 2024 Republican nomination. Other candidates, including Christie and Hutchinson, have been more vague about whether they will endorse whoever wins the primary.
Watch above via Newsmax.